Washington v. U of New Mexico Game Preview

Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament!

A month ago, who would have thought we would be in the second round! I would say about 10% of Seattle...us die hards...

Washington (25-9) versus University of New Mexico (30-4)

Last game:

Washington over Marquette - 80-78 in the first round of the NCAA tournament

New Mexico over Montana - 62-57 in round one of the NCAA tournament

Quick New Mexico synopsis: New Mexico is GOOD. They have victories over California, Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Montana. All common opponents. UNM has won 41 straight games when holding a team under 60 points (I mean, that is not a very telling stat. You should win if you hold a team under 60!). UNM is very successful when controlling the pace (see victory over Montana).

What does Washington have to do to win?: Push. The. Pace. If the Huskies push the pace and put this game into the 70's or 80's, Washington will win going away. They must pass the ball with reason to get the open shots it did against Marquette. On the other side of the ball, let's try holding this team under 50% shooting. Marquette almost shot us out of the gym last game.

On Offense:

Get the BIG MAN involved. Matthew Bryan-Amaning is a key offensively for Washington. UNM's tallest starter in the front court is 6-8 A.J. Hardeman. The need to push the pace, but at the same time when the game creeps to a snail's pace, MBA has to be the focal point of the Husky O. MBA had a quick start on Thursday against Marquette. His quick start provided a second option to Isaiah Thomas while Quincy Pondexter struggled to get off to a quick start.

The second thing is try to get QPon to see the ball go into the bucket early. The game plan on Thursday looked as if Lorenzo Romar wanted to get MBA involved early, but I think Romar needs to get Q some quick hoops to ignite his star. If Q goes through another first half like he did on Thursday, I might break a TV.

Lastly, I.T. has finally accepted the role of play maker when the Huskies get into a half court game. His team high 9 assists on Thursday helped find open Husky three point shooters who connected on a season high 9/14 shots (64%). He must continue to do that in order for UW to find easy baskets in the high court where our offense seems to become stagnate from time to time.

On D:
They also need to control Darington Hobson. He is their most versatile and complete player. Darinigton will come into the game banged up. He hurt his left wrist (he's left handed) in Thursday night's win over Montana. He had a X-ray on Friday, but all results came back negative. If the Huskies can not contain the 6-7 Junior, it might be a long day for the Huskies. Look for Justin Holiday to get the first look on Hobson. Jrue's little brother better get ready to get dirty on D, which he typically does.

Things to look for in the game:

Thing that will tip you to how the game might turn out:

1.) If you neck is getting tired watching the ball go up and down the court, that is good for UW.

2.) Is Washington getting UNM to commit turns? If not, Washington better shoot well.

3.) Is Venoy and MBA in foul trouble? If those two are in foul trouble...our bench needs to step up!

4.) How many points does Quincy have at half? When Q has 12+ points at half, the Huskies are hard to beat.

5.) Is UW having trouble guarding Hobson?

6.) How does LoRo look? He's usually very stylish.

My humble opinion:

The Huskies have a great opportunity to make the Sweet 16. I do not think New Mexico has enough fire power to hang with the running Huskies. If UW pushes the pace, and gets out running and makes UNM play faster than they like, UW will win this game by double digits.

Prediction: Washington over University of New Mexico 80-70

Onto the Sweet 16 Dawg fans!

Starting line-ups:

New Mexico:

F AJ Hardeman

F Roman Martinez

F Darington Hobson - STAR

G Phillip McDonald

G Diarsee Gary

Washington:

F Quincy Pondexter

F Justin Holiday

C Matthew Bryan-Holiday

G Isaiah Thomas

G Abdul Gaddy (though, it should be Venoy!)